The first film out of post-Taliban Afghanistan is a riveting and angry drama about a Kabul mother and daughter who, upon the death of her husband, resort to desperate measures to survive.

Banned from venturing outside without a man, the mother is forced to send her daughter out to work, dressing her as a young boy. But the Taliban are recruiting male children and "Osama's" act becomes increasingly dangerous.

First-time director Barmak takes pains to interrogate the religious and social roots underlying the Taliban's treatment of women. And far from celebrating the American liberation, Osama suggests that Afghanistan will need more than bombs in order to be healed.

Awards

Best Foreign Language Film - Golden Globe 2004

Critics

"Osama is challenging, full-throttle cinema, uncompromisingly engaged with the contemporary world"
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

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